#494: MGMT: Oracular Spectacular

#494

MGMT, Oracular Spectacular

The MGMT Lions

Release Date: 2007

Previously Owned: Sort of… have a bunch of MP3s from this one

Impressions: When this album first came out, someone threw MP3s from this album on my work server and I thought they were audio files from our company’s management committee meeting. It’s got that now-popular ’80s-via-’00s sound by Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann that features big drums and bigger keyboards and some nice hooks. Parts funky, trippy and sarcastic without getting too, too annoying, Oracular Spectacular is a definitely an product of its time. Tons of danceable hits mixed in with accessible weirdness (look! they rhyme “electric eel with electric feel.” Like crazy, man!) Like Phoenix, Vampire Weekend or many of their contemporaries, MGMT seems kinda faceless to me (I know I couldn’t pick any of them out of a lineup) and tend to hide behind huge keyboard sounds and irony. But, these are quibbles. The tunes mostly work fine, especially the Beck-esque falsetto jam “Electric Feel.”

Should this album be on the list? Sure, I guess? I could see this album falling off years from now and merely being one of the best of its decade. But, for now, this album is still a lot of fun and a decent slice of ’00s party rock. Maybe it got placed on the list to help fill out the group of newer albums? I don’t know. Time will tell.Starred Songs: “Time To Pretend,” “Kids,” “Electric Feel”

Sneaky Track: “Pieces of What”

Will you listen to this again? Yes. If for no other reason than it’ll be playing somewhere in the future.